Kai presses his lips to my neck and pulls me into his lap. “Or we could fuck for real. It’s been a while.”
It has, and there was a reason for that. “What happened to just being better as friends?”
His teeth nip my neck, and it does nothing for me. I’m too worked up over Veon and too over Kai to even think about going there. “Stop, Kai, I just…”
He stills, and a soft sigh falls from his plump mouth. I look into his honey-coloured eyes, and I see a spark of hurt. It’s only there for a moment, but maybe this moving apart wasn’t as mutual as he led me to believe.
“I’m sorry,” I say, brushing my thumb over the sharp curve of his cheek.
“I know,” he replies quietly, but it makes me feel a little guilty. Which is stupid. Kai is my best friend, and I don’t like that I’m hurting him. I rest my forehead against his and hold him close.
Kai wraps his arms around my waist, and his hands sweep over the arch of my spine. “I’m fine, Echo. I just miss you sometimes. Miss the connection we had. I know we’re still friends, but… I dunno. Maybe I’m just pining.” He huffs a little laugh, but it sounds stilted.
I open my mouth to respond, but the door to my room creaks. I snap my gaze over towards the sound, and my eyes lock with Veon’s.
I flinch.
Those blue eyes, the colour of cloudless skies and serenity, are filled with hate and heat.
My skin prickles with awareness, feeling the threat in his gaze, but I can’t look away, no matter how much his stare burns.
Veon’s top lip curls in a snarl before he shuts the door with a snap.
“Baby girl,” Kai says with a snort. “What did you do to piss him off?”
I climb off his lap and flop down on my bed with a groan. “I killed Bennie and stole his phone.”
“What?” Kai says sharply. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Nope,” I reply, popping the ‘p’. “I saw an opportunity, and I took it. It wasn’t exactly the plan, but then the fool disappeared with a young lad, right in front of me.” I wasn’t going to let that stand, and if Kai thought otherwise, he really didn’t know me very well at all.
With a deep sigh, Kai lay down on his side next to me. “I can understand that, Echo. Really, I can, but getting rid of Bennie is a problem.”
I groan. “Not you, too. That’s what Veon said.”
Kai laughs, low and breathy. “Hate to break it to you, but he’s right. His death is going to piss off a lot of people, including your father and mine.”
Kai’s dad, Jace, works for mine and has done since the whole family moved over here from the States. Jace, who looks like an older version of Kai with sandy blonde locks, honey-coloured eyes and a face that would make angels weep—I mean seriously, the guy is like 50 and hot as fuck—works as my dad’s hitman. And he’s good. So good that no one really knows his confirmed kill list. Even Kai doesn’t, and Jace is training Kai to take over from him. Something to do with family legacy and all that shit.
I bet if Kai had been born a girl, he wouldn’t be so lucky, though. Stupid archaic family traditions. I mean, is having a vagina really going to stop you from pulling the trigger?
It’s never stopped me before.
“Well, at least Dad won’t know it was me.” That was at least something of a saving grace.
Kai rubs his hands down his face and releases another sigh. “What are you going to do about the phone?”
I hit him with a flat stare. “Break into it, obviously.”
He groans. “Of course you are.”
“It’s got some serious encryption on it. Must be a lot of secrets on there.”
“Secrets that will probably get you killed, baby girl. Are you prepared for war?”
“War?”
His eyes darken like molasses. “Everyone is going to want to know what Bennie knew. One thing he was good at was finding information and knowing who to sell it to. You better be prepared for people to come looking for that phone.”
